Ever wonder why New York’s politicians freak out over snowstorms? The blizzard of 1969 not only paralyzed New York City for three days, but it nearly ended Mayor John Lindsay’s political career. February 9, 1969 was supposed to be a gloomy but quiet Sunday, with a forecast for slushy rain. Instead, an unprepared and disorganized mayoral administration…
Normally we don’t associate tugboats with disruption and chaos, but at a time when New York City’s shipping industry was king, the Tugboat Strike of 1946 threw the City into turmoil. The strike began February 4, and by the time it was over, it had brought the City to its knees. After World War II,…
The roaring 20s were a great time to drive taxis in New York City, but the industry suffered during the Great Depression. The driver market was flooded with desperate men looking for work just as the rest of the population was seriously cutting back on expenses. Taxi salaries plummeted, and drivers’ frustration boiled into a strike. On February…
New York City’s simmering racial tensions periodically erupt after traumatic events like the death of Eric Garner. On February 4, 1999, policemen fired 41 shots at Guinean immigrant Amadou Diallo in a case of mistaken identity. The event shook the City, becoming a turning point in public sentiment towards Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s aggressive policing strategy. Not…
In honoring the civil rights movement, we sometimes forget the battles that took place in northern cities like New York. On February 3, 1964, the Rev. Milton Galamison led the largest student boycott in the history of the New York City public school system, with 464,361 students staying home to fight for the end of school segregation.…
New Yorkers have been agitators and disrupters from the start, even back when New Amsterdam was just a small settlement on the tip of Manhattan. On this date in 1653, New Amsterdam was officially declared a municipality by the Dutch government. During the 1620s, New Amsterdam was set up as a trading outpost run by…
“Bench and bar settle deeper in the mud every year and every month. They must be near the bottom now.” – George Templeton, 1868. Late 1860s New York City was in the firm clutches of the Tammany Hall political machine, run at the time by the notorious Boss Tweed. Tweed operatives were prominently placed throughout…
janos.nyc 